What you say is correct. My comments were intended to be about volume using the HS as an example. I note for sails of the size which we both seem to prefer, that the iSonic 101 would fill the role - but again depending on how heavy you are and whether sailing in steady or really gusty conditions. My inclination is to less rather than more volume because once up and running the extra volume adds nothing.B)

30th November 2006 10:16 PM

Ricbra

RE: Design differences

Hi Philip,

Tnx for the comments.
I&#39;ve been trying to post a reply for a while, this is the 3rd time

All right. I love my HS133 and recognize its amazing features.However after more than 2 years it&#39;s time for a change. This is why I posted this thread. My initial idea was to get an iS133 however, considering the experience with FW I had, I suppose I could do well with FW and 6.5 sail. From there straight to iS105 and same sail when the wind gets to 12+ knots. One less sail to rig
I&#39;m not much concerned about wining every drag race so it&#39;s not an easy decision which way to go. They could be an iS133 and 8.5 sail or change to FW/FT.

28th November 2006 09:57 AM

Philip

RE: Design differences

Well this is a good topic. Sailing with others with similar gear combinations (me on HS 111) I would say that your experience is not that unusual! However, with the HS it has a well known capability to glide through different wind strenghts once lit up; it certainly takes some technique, the right conditions and rig set up to reach top gear. Volume does B)matter - the rule with HS seems to be to go as small as will float your weight and carry the sail sizes you favour. Yup, I have noticed those on Free Formula boards have an easier time of it, but the HS is a great coach if that is where you are going.

22nd November 2006 11:35 PM

Ricbra

Design differences

Hi,

This past weekend I had two different experiences with results that puzzled me. Some help in clarifying them are most welcome:
They are:
1- Conditions:salt water lake, actually the 2nd saltiest place in the world (75 g/l c/w 35 g/l sea water),winds 10 - 13 knots (my guess), flat water. I was on HS133 and GTX 6.5 and planing with the strong gusts. There is also this local guy with Noth Sail 6.4 race sail and 06 JP 94 l slalom board. He??s about my size and weight. After a few drag races I noticed that we started to plane at about same time but he&#39;s a little bit faster everytime.
Apparently more volume doesn&#39;t put you on a plane earlier or maybe race sails pulls much stronger, or even both. His shorter fin migth explain his marginal speed edge.

2- Same place and day except that wind dropped to 8 -10 knots, this time measured on a wind meter. I changed sail do Severne Overdrive 8.5 and still can plane with lots of pumping .My girlfriend is sailing her *board FW 147 with my GTX 6.5 on it. On a few ocasion I took her equipment and much to my surprize can plane and keep it planing a lot easier with so much less effort and with similar speed c/w HS and 8.5. I couldn&#39;t point as high as the other guys on FW and bigger sails but started to plane at about same time since pumping a 6.5 sail is way easier.
Comparing FW 147 and HS 133 longer fin and more volume apparently made all the difference.

I&#39;m not a begginer and consider myself good at pumping.
I certainly lost my sort of prejudice against FW . Sailing FW with 6.5 was way less demanding than HS and 8.5 and certainly a pleasure.